Best Figure: Hmmm... I think I'm going to go with the Vintage Nikto Guard. Great to finally check him off the update list and a great sculpt. Runner-up for me would be the new vintage collection Weequay upgrade.

Best Vehicle: I think I'll have to go with the Speederbike. It was long overdue, easy to get and not that expensive with all the TRU BOGO deals/coupons.

Best Exclusive: K-Mart Endor 2-Packs. Great value for $15 and great figure choices to complement the AT-ST. I'd love to see these continue in some form.

Best Multipack: TRU Ewok Multipack. A pile of great new ewoks and a ton of accessories too. Runner-up would be the Walmart TPM Astromech pack, another winner in my book.

I'd say a lot of the same on my list except best figure of 2012... My list goes like so:

-Best Figure: Death Star trooper... To me, a long overdue army builder, tried twice and failed both times (I can deal with the 2007 one, but he takes work and work sucks). The new one is really exquisite. The skirt flexes so he is totally poseable, he has a working holster, the helmet's great, he's nice and generic unlike so many Rebels anymore, and he's a perfect height. His flaws are he's $10 a pop and shipped one-per-case in only one case this year, and it's a case riddled with TPM figures. I've found a couple lately and it's really great and wish I had about 100 more.

Runner-up could be almost anybody at this point. So many great figures, so little time, so few were able to be found easily. I'm leaning towards some of the Jabba Palace guys though, namely Vintage Nikto. I'd also say Evazan would rank high on my possible list since he was LONG overdue and I think his figure turned out pretty perfect aside from Hasbro sculpting thigh straps to the holsters on the figure's legs. They look worse that way, and the Luke's with the strap sculpted to the holster prove you can do it and make it not inhibit articulation at all. *shrugs* Dunno why they don't go that way all the time, especially on Han.

-Best Vehicle Overall: Speederbike... Like Jeff said, long overdue, but more than that this thing is a work of art from top to bottom and you get extra (albeit fairly useless) stuff. If it has a flaw, it's price. $22 is rough to choke down on something this small. However, you get a figure with articulation updates that make it look like a movie prop on the ship. The vehicle itself is sculpted, at long, long, long last, to-scale. It has the neato floaty stand I'm still taking credit for (). They made the engine hood open up, again, going the extra mile on something not seen in the movie even but which the adult collector HAS to appreciate. The guy's feet lock into the pedals! Come on people.

One could add that the handlebars are a tad too rubbery, and that the floaty stand is a tad too high. I've found the handlebars can be reshaped to perfection though, and the floaty stand I'm quite fine with. The way this thing looks with the scout on it, displayed in all its glory, is really something tough to even compare to anything in the modern line other than maybe the last Jabba the Hutt which was pretty well aimed squarely at adult collectors. This thing was made for us and should be appreciated by the collector for what it is. It's up there, forever, with figures like Ephant Mon, as things you'll always appreciate for the sheer effort put into them by whoever designed and sculpted them. I'll take a dozen more, thank you!

-Best Exclusive Figure(s): I'm with Jeff on this again, in nominating the K-Mart 2-Packs. These were a financial and collectible breath of fresh air in 2012. $15 for 2 figures is a steal, even Ewoks, at this point. Add in that K-Mart (if you have it) made them fairly easy to get, and that they went to something else perfectly (even if that other exclusive itself was far from perfect), and you have a pretty great exclusive.

Hasbro also managed to knock out 2 things people really wanted. Access to AT-ST Drivers and the Ewok Hijackers. Plus they went the extra mile on the AT-ST Pilots making them resemble who they were intended to. Well done, all around.

Any real gripe about the sets is the paint aps on the Ewoks were a little lacking, and the AT-ST Pilots are tall. Quite tall. At the price, and then even the sale prices, I'm content. I'll mix/match with the army of scanner techs I have, I think. See if I can do some head swappin' too maybe.

-Best Larger Multi-Pack: I'll go again with Jeff on this and say TRU's Ewok multi-pack trumped everything else. The others were largley lackluster or Clone Wars focused, and I just didn't have a great interest in those. The Nightsister was on my radar but I couldn't even justify full price and got one for $10 clearance, and that was my "OK, I'll buy and open" point on that.

The Ewok multi-pack delivered bang for your buck though, and that's a tough spot when Ewoks are the subject. They're always re-used parts, but all the NEW parts made it well worth it. Plus an Ewoks Movie/Toon character, extra gear galore... It warranted two purchases! When Hasbro makes you happy to buy it twice, you know you got something special.

Sadly the Rebel Pilot set that shipped with it was half-hearted at best, using the overused (and short) Luke Pilot sculpt, that couldn't overcome the nice update to Porkins. Had they given me at least taller pilots, my Rebel army building affinity would have swayed me that direction I think, but as it stands, Ewok Multi-Pack is where I'm heading.

-Best Class I Set: This, for me, was easily the Dropship. The design works for me, and for my criteria for buying this kind of stuff, I have to look at the ship and think that it COULD actually be in Star Wars. Like the MLC-3 of old looking like a simple lightly armored mobile repeating blaster, it's not "overdoing it" for the ship's size. It looks like it's an oversized speederbike simply designed to drop a couple guys off with some heavy guns into a combat zone.

It has a little too much in the way of guns, but they can mostly be removed and that's fine. Leave the front two small ones, and that's all it needs and should have (Speederbikes kind of set the bar here that something that small can't have TOO much firepower and still zip around everywhere).

Finding it was easy for some, and for others (myself included) online satiated demand. I have yet to see this in a store despite being a great ship.

-Best Class II: I'd have to give it to the N1 Starfighter which I never saw obviously, but it's a good design update to a ship that was already perfectly scaled. It's a shame Hasbro **** the bed on that one's distribution, however it doesn't mean it won't see the light of day, and so one can hope. I refused to buy a case just to get it, but it's a definitely good ship with updates that just made sense and worked perfectly.

Sucks that I have an army of pilots and no ship for them now.

Runner-up would go, for me, to the repaint Vulture Droid. Weird choice? It's to-scale, and it's movie-accurate, and that's all that matters to me. There weren't many other good choices this year from that line of ships, unfortunately. Most, I felt, were pretty meh. And none came close to even being in contention with the new Speederbike for best vehicle. The MTT doesn't even get there in my book.

-Best Innovation By Hasbro: Not a lot this year but I noticed Hasbro is sculpting more figures with the larger armor on the shoulder, which hides the shoulder pin. It's a slick way of making figures more appealing and it actually doesn't inhibit articulation much at all. The Clone Wars Anakin really benefited with this improved style of sculpt/articulation I felt, as did several other figures.

There wasn't a lot of "new" to what Hasbro does this year. For the most part, figures were the same level of crisp sculpting and things as they've always been, and if anything paint aps are down now to where the fine sculpts are just not being highlighted well enough to save a dime. But Hasbro did get some nice little changes in there and I thought they looked good.

I'd add runner-up nod (no pun here) to the double-ball-jointed neck on the Scout. It was something I saw some guys gloss over as "unnecessary" as I recall, but I disagree. It gives the slight, but necessary, extra range of motion to the figure's head, that really makes it more like the puppet on the bike. He can lean his head forward in a crouch much better, and he also looks over his shoulder to pop a couple shots off at his pursuers much better now. It's only on one figure, so I didn't want to list it over the shoulder sculpting style, but to me it's the cherry on top of that set's already superb quality.

Runner Up: Probably one I didn't find (Shae? Nikto?) or didn't open (I'm subconsciously planning on retiring on Malgus and Navy Trooper and 2 Royal Guards ). That I did open/buy, I'll go with Weequay.

Best Vehicle: Speeder Bike I never got around to getting. Why? I'm cheap. Also, I'd acquired 3 POTF2 bikes over the summer for less than $10 total.

Runner Up: AAT with the new seat...am I being sarcastic? Of what I actually bought, I'd pick the Mandalorian Transport which was supposed to be released last year. So it's either the AAT, the BARC speeder (was that even a repaint?) or the vintage boxed AT-AP, which was a reissue, not even a repaint...I think.

Best Exclusive: that retailer went defunct ages ago...(who even remembers BEST?). Ewok set.

Runner Up: the AT-ST drivers, even though they are too tall and should've included helmets with the goggles up as well.

Best Figure: Hmmm... I think I'm going to go with the Vintage Nikto Guard. Great to finally check him off the update list and a great sculpt. Runner-up for me would be the new vintage collection Weequay upgrade.

Best Vehicle: I think I'll have to go with the Speederbike. It was long overdue, easy to get and not that expensive with all the TRU BOGO deals/coupons.

Best Exclusive: K-Mart Endor 2-Packs. Great value for $15 and great figure choices to complement the AT-ST. I'd love to see these continue in some form.

Best Multipack: TRU Ewok Multipack. A pile of great new ewoks and a ton of accessories too. Runner-up would be the Walmart TPM Astromech pack, another winner in my book.

The only things I've seen from that list distributed in Canada are the TRU Ewok Multipack (barf) and the vintage collection Weequay which finally showed up just before Christmas. Otherwise nada north of the border. Shades of the POTJ era all over again. I appreciate you guys got lots of cool stuff, but with the price of shipping being as high as it is these days (anyone else remember mailing carded figures for about $3?) I just can't be bothered with trying.

Well whether or not we got something cool is up for debate. A lot of what I listed was either insanely hard to find, or hard to find up till recently. Hell most of it was hard to find or not possible at all short of online.

Wouldn't have even been much to send you.

If you want KM 2-packs though Brent, hit me up and I will get you a set, and ship as cheaply as possible to you, however you wish.

Thanks Jesse, I appreciate the offer. I will however pass. Back when POTJ hit (or didn't really, as the case may be) I started getting help from a lot of people (mostly Minnesotans I might add) and was able to keep up. At the time I'd thought about quitting and while part of me is happy I didn't, the money I would have saved would have been fabulous. So while I'm not quitting, I'm only actively seeking new/better OT figures at this point and I don't think those K-Mart two packs quite fit my definitions. I've got my spending on SW stuff well under $500/year at this point and I'm really enjoying that quite a bit.

I can sympathize. As things have progressed, I keep cutting back myself. I enjoy these long breaks, and unless it's pretty special I'm passing anymore, aside from last year's figures-by-the-case lifestyle I was leading. Which I'll go back to if necessary, but on all the rest of it, yeah I've basically learned I'll live without and only put out feelers if I really want something and know I won't see it.

Such as the Deluxe Dropship set... Never saw it but wanted some. Basic figures though, at this point, I've had to cut back on the extras and things... My budget's smaller than probably ever right now.

-- Best Figure: Clone Wars Anakin. Gotta admit that everything we got was really nice, even the kitbashes were using superior sculpts. Maul and the Skiff Guards really stood out though, and I was also a fan (probably the only one) of the new Battle Droid. Having to pick one single figure though, I'd pick the CW Anakin due to the playability. You can put him in a variety of poses, action and neutral, plus he fits in vehicles and he always looks great. I'd probably throw a vote to the Imperial Navy Commando but I've never seen one, and I'm not paying the $30+ secondary market prices for them.-- Runner Up: Darth Maul

-- Best Vehicle: Class I Dropship, and it's not even close. I'd probably vote for the Naboo Starfighter but we all know how that turned out. The Dropship is just FUN though, and while I have yet to find any non-animated figures that fit inside the ship and the carrier pod (haven't tried too many though) the CW figures that do fit work great and it's always useful for when you have 10 minutes to kill and just want to imagine dropping some Clones/Jedi into a war zone.-- Runner Up: None. Terrible year for vehicles.

-- Best Exclusive: TRU Speeder Bike. Long waited, and worth every penny. I own three currently and I rarely even buy vehicles, which means the bike and the Dropship are really impressive. The Bike is significantly upped due to TRU offering a BOGO sale on them the week they hit en masse. My stores still have plenty and I have to fight the urge to buy more each time I see them, but I'm holding out for the eventual Luke/Leia rereleases. Heck, I'd even buy a Nick Sant version! And the Biker Scout included is fun and super posable too, both on and off the bike.-- Runner Up: K-Mart multipacks. I haven't opened mine yet, but I'll take Jesse's word on them. I have no K-Marts near me and was lucky enough to find them at the local Sears Grand once, and I doubt I'll ever see them again since Sears Grand never seems to stock toys.

-- Best Multipack: TRU Ewok set. Again, haven't opened mine but I still should probably buy a second one for the extra hoods. Customization ability = good! I just wish I had waited to buy this set, I rushed and bought it online before I saw them in stores, and then a few days later these went on sale for a BOGO and hit en masse, although they were still hard to find.-- Runner Up: Wal-Mart Royal Starship Astromechs. I'm still not a fan of using the B-A-D sculpt in waves/sets where they should be using "regular" Astromech bodies but came around on this set. Some minor flaws keep it from winning out over the Ewoks though, such as the green Astromech not having its "mouth light" painted.

And just for kicks, here are some extra categories:

-- Best Movie Heroes Figure: Jar Jar, aka the only one worth buying

-- Best Repack/Kitbash: Sandtrooper. Awesome accessories and paint job brought new life to a figure literally nobody wanted to see

-- Worst Figure: Any Movie Heroes figure. Pick any one of the THREE versions of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. No need for the same figure to be on the pegs in three different cards.

-- Worst Multipack: The new Battlepacks with the unarticulated figures. Just terrible.

-- Worst Exclusive: TRU Podracer Battlepack. I was more than happy to purchase this since I owned none of the figures in it, but I also paid less than $10 for it. These things were waaaaaay overproduced and waaaaaaay overpriced, and the result is a giant stack that will NEVER sell through, even though TRU has pretty much had this thing on clearance (and they NEVER put stuff on clearance!) since it came out. Runner Up is the Target Vintage 3 Packs that required you to buy two repacks just to get a single new figure.

I'll save the rants on distribution and prices and such because we've heard it all before but one terrible decision I've noticed Hasbro making a lot more lately is in the pins of figures' joints being completely different colors from the main body parts/armor. Main examples include the Biker Scout that comes with the Speeder Bike having black pins in the shoulders where there is white armor, and Weequay having blue pins in brown pants. Like, the Biker Scout isn't so bad, distracting but not bad, but Weequay, why? His pants are one solid color!

Best Figure: Deleted Scene Luke. (Can't be Naval Commander, never saw one)Best Vehicle: Speeder Bike (runner up is the rerelease of the BMFs always good to see OT mega ships on the shelves)Best Exclusive: the Disney Build a Droid at Star Traders. (The nearest KMart is 300 miles away, thanks JJ for the hook up)Best Multi-pack: TRU Ewoks.

BEST FIGURE - VC105 - Royal Guard (ROTJ) - With this figure I think that Hasbro has finally nailed the Emporer's Royal Guard. And in the process, the inclusion of the additional accessories made this not just a great ROTJ figure, but also a very cool EU rendition of Kir Kanos.

HONORABLE MENTION - VC106 - Nien Nunb - This is an update that I've been waiting to see for a long time. The Kenner vintage Nein Nunb mailaway figure was one of my favorite figures from that line, and I always loved the character in ROTJ. I think Hasbro pretty much nailed Nein Nunb from a sculpt standpoint. Do I think the paint apps could have been a little better? Definitely. If the paint apps on Nien Nunb's face had been better, THIS would have been my BEST FIGURE vote.

BEST VEHICLE - I've got to go with the Speeder Bike, too. This one vehicle has been such a sore spot for years, that to see it finally done the right way is a relief. The sizing and details are all there. And I really hope that Hasbro is going to capitalize on the tooling and offer versions with both Luke and Leia on this speeder bike as well.

BEST EXCLUSIVE - The K-Mart AT-ST Crew takes this slot for me. This is a case of Hasbro actually getting it right for once. They listened to collectors and gave us a 2-pack of Imperial troops with different head sculpts, and you know what? It's sold pretty damned well. And on top of that, the figures are really cool, too. I'm definitely happy to put them in my AT-ST's, and retire my older AT-ST Drivers.

BEST MULTIPACK - This could have easily been the best exclusive, since it was both a multipack AND an exclusive. But I have to go with the TRU exclusive Ewok multipack. I think this is another case of a great offering because Hasbro LISTENED. They offered us NEW Ewoks as well as a revised Teebo. And they threw in a bunch of Ewok accessories, too. It makes this set more versatile, and those additional accessories give you the option of displaying your Ewoks the way you want. This is a WIN feature for me.

Logged

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